


On the Seven

by Sapphires_and_Gold



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Braime - Freeform, Braime Rights, Brienne x Jaime - Freeform, F/M, Fictober 2019 Transfer, Mass Transit, Modern AU, Someone asked nicely for a chapter 2 and I'm a nice person, Subways, ficlet into fiction, jaime x brienne - Freeform, jealous jaime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 04:30:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21265097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphires_and_Gold/pseuds/Sapphires_and_Gold
Summary: This was Ch 7 of my Fictober 2019 collection. Someone on Tumblr asked very kindly whether I was going to continue this universe and I decided to indulge them with a second chapter - but that's it! No more after this! Story opens, story shuts. You get a happy ending and YOU get a happy ending!





	1. Chapter 1

Brienne was the first female subway conductor in King’s Landing proper. She’d been warned that the union was a bit of a boy’s club but she didn’t mind. She’d wanted to do this ever since she knew what the subway was, and a couple of pigheaded old guys weren’t going to bother her - she was taller than most of them, could lift more than most of them, and certainly had her share of battle scars to prove that she wouldn’t be intimidated. Not that any of that mattered to Jaime.

She had met Jaime at her first WTS union meeting when she was assigned to the subcommittee he served on, and they instantly took to one another - that is Jaime instantly took to making fun of the rookie and Brienne instantly took to making fun of the old timer. There wasn’t much of a gap in their ages but Jaime has been riding the rails so long by this time that he treated everyone else like a newbie, but especially Brienne. He just couldn’t get enough of the way her face flamed up every time he pissed her off.

If it had just been the meetings, they might have stayed like that - griping at and with each other over a conference table somewhere in Kingswood once a month, often butting heads, but more often than not shouting down other people together only to part as strangers at the end of each session. But after about 8 months on the job, Brienne realized that Jaime rode her route in the mornings - not the route she lived on, but the one she drove. 

The Westeros Transit System wasn’t very large - just a few lines all laid out rather poorly, connecting at the corners, and with seemingly random letter enumerations - the F, W, S, M, A, C and T. You couldn’t even make an acronym out of it so locals semi-affectionately called it “The Seven.” Brienne lived off of the A which ran from Duskendale to Stormsend, but she was a conductor on the W which also originated in Duskendale and ran to Maegor. And it was that line that Jaime apparently lived off of. 

Every few mornings she’d spot him boarding in Maegor, coffee in hand, and watch him doze a little until the train reached Duskendale. After observing him for a couple of weeks, she finally poked her head out of the interior door and gave him a friendly wave. A sleepy smile crossed his face and he saluted her with his coffee, mumbling “morning, wench.” As it turned out, he’d noticed her months ago and had decided to watch from a distance “to make sure the rookie was doing her job right,” he teased. 

So while she’d been spotting him dozing, but often rousing to give elderly customers his seat, he’d been studying her, and had had no complaints except to mention that maybe she could give a little less warning before closing the doors (she was cautious by nature). 

A begrudging respect and friendship formed between them, so much so that when they realized two weeks later that he drove the A line and was often on shift when she was headed home, they actually celebrated with a hug. Both were glad to have a friend on the rails. Jaime loved starting his day with Brienne and Brienne loved ending her day with Jaime. Subcommittee meetings were still a breeding ground for teasing and insults but now they always went for a drink after and ended the night on a high note. 

When Jaime and his longtime girlfriend broke up, Brienne was the first person he called. He’d spent a lot of time being miserable with the woman and Brienne was happy to be there to support him through the transition. In the wake of it, he decided to move to an apartment in Duskendale, and when he boarded the W with half his belongings in a cart, Brienne joked about being his personal driver. At the end of the line, she helped him carry his stuff to his new building and then they had both wound up sprawled on his living room floor next to half a bottle of wine when they still hadn’t finished putting his furniture together at 3am. She was sad that she’d no longer get to see him at the start of his day. 

But with Jaime living in Duskendale, they actually saw each other more often, whether it was happenstance or deliberate, they didn’t acknowledge. Every few mornings he would meet her at the top of the stairs with coffee when she went to transfer to her route. Sometimes when she got off work, she would ride the A back and forth, keeping him company for an hour or so before he finally kicked her off in Stormsend and sent her home. Jaime living in Duskendale also meant that he finally had a chance to meet Brienne’s boyfriend - a conductor on the WNS. 

The Westeros North lines were named for their destinations further outside of the city - the Sunspear line ran in tandem with the A and then kept going all the way to Dorne; the Lannisport line ran in tandem with the W and then kept going until it met the west cost. Tormund worked the Eastgate line which started in Duskendale and then kept going north - all the way north. The line was so long that it took an entire day just to reach from one end to the next. There were sleeping berths onboard, and the conductors often slept on the train between shifts rather than going home. 

Tormund’s home was north but whenever he hit a shift change at the southern end of the line, he and Brienne had a standing date. It didn’t happen often but when it did and it, even more rarely, cut into the time that Jaime had with her, he was always a little down about it. After he finally met the guy he decided he wasn’t down about it, he was downright mad. The guy clearly didn’t see Brienne for all her worth. In the hour he spent with him that first time, the guy couldn’t shut up about how tall Brienne was, as if it was new information to any of them. Jaime didn’t like him. 

A couple of months after meeting Brienne’s boyfriend, after one of their union meetings, Brienne announced that she had a week off coming up. She wanted to spend some time with her dad, and Tormund had planned some vacation time too, so they’d get to go see her dad o Tarth together. Jaime “oh that’s great”‘d and “sounds like fun”’d earnestly over his martini but Brienne could tell that something was off. 

So when he drank too many martinis, she drank just as many trying to be a good sport and keep up with him. He was falling over by the time they left the bar and they barely supported each other all the way to his building, giggling like maniacs as they tripped up the stairs. By the time they reached his apartment, she could see he wasn’t feeling 100%. Once inside she steered him directly to the bathroom and spent the next hour gently brushing his rakishly long hair away from his face while he tried not to drown in the toilet. 

When he finally felt like he couldn’t do any more damage, Brienne made him drink some water and then stood him up and stripped him down to his underwear before sitting him down on his bed. When she tried to tuck him in, he tugged on her sleeve and asked her to stay “in case I get sick again.” She’d kicked off her shoes and climbed in behind him, and they’d fallen asleep with his knees couched against hers, and her hand clasping his shoulder. 

When she woke it was because he had turned over restlessly, thrown an arm across her waist, and was now exhaling from his nose straight into her mouth. She’d blinked and rubbed his arm gently to try and wake him but that only made him grip her tighter. He made a tiny sound that might have been the ghost of a moan, and suddenly he had tipped his face up to her and was sliding his lips soft and urgently against hers in his sleep. 

Brienne made to pull away but he unconsciously chased her lips. She twisted her face away and his mouth landed just below her ear sending a spark of something coursing through her body. She finally yanked his arm away from her waist and pinned him to his pillow by the shoulder, soundly waking him up. 

He’d stared blearily at her, piecing together what had happened - the drinking, the stairs, the bathroom, her hands scraping up his sides when she undressed him, the warmth of her pressed behind him. But none of it explained why she was now leaning over him and looking like he’d hurt her. Gods his head ached. 

When he finally cleared his throat and asked what happened, her only response was a sympathetic “I think you were dreaming of Cersei.” He tried to focus and get her to talk to him and help him understand what she meant but she moved too quickly to gather her things and clear the room and she never heard him rasp “I dreamt of _you _.”

The next day they were back to normal. She asked how he was feeling after his binge, and he ribbed her for having announced her intention to arm wrestle the bartender. They went on as usual, neither one admitting that something had changed. 

But it had. 

And when she was on Tarth the following week he missed her more than usual. He looked for her more than usual. But she wasn’t in Duskendale and she wasn’t in Stormsend; she wasn’t in the laughter at the bar or in the smell of his morning coffee; she wasn’t in his bed, no matter how many times he woke up imagining her there. 

Four days into her vacation he thought he was hearing things when he picked up the sound of her voice in Stormsend Station. Someone who sounded an awful lot like her was clearly arguing with someone else, but he couldn’t see her in the crowd from his mid train booth window, and despite voices carrying easily here, the words were muddy. She wasn’t due back to work for another few days so Jaime chalked it up to his brain working overtime to fill in the gaps her absence left behind. 

But then the shouting got closer and her face appeared above the masses pushing through the turnstiles, rushing to catch the train before it departed. 

Her face was blotchy, the way it always got when she was upset. And she was dressed for a shift, which seemed strange. Just behind her was Tormund fumbling with his wallet. The bell rang once indicating that Jaime had approximately 30 seconds to get the doors closed before his train would be considered behind schedule. She was moving quickly enough and he thought if he could only wait 25 of those 30 seconds he could make her see him, and make sure she was okay. He didn’t want to pull out of the station if she was in trouble and now that he’d seen her he really didn’t want to leave without her on board. 

He angled his body to the side and leaned out of the window as far as he could hoping she would see and acknowledge him. 

“No.” She was saying quite firmly, finally clearing the turnstile just as Tormund found his transit card. The bell rang twice. 

20 seconds. Jaime couldn’t wait much longer. He called her name somewhat desperately and her head snapped up, a storm of emotions clouding her face and then making way for relief and something else. Her long legs carriers her quickly to the train doors just as Tormund swiped his card, yelling “Please, Brienne!” 

She spun on the threshold and almost snarled, “No, and that’s final. I want you gone when I get back.” Jaime punched the door release, shutting Tormund out. He was still pounding his palm against the window as Jaime pulled the train out of the station. 

Between stops, Jaime opened the booth door into the car. He didn’t even need to open it all the way, as Brienne was standing right outside, waiting for him. 

“I didn’t think you were working,” he said attempting casual, “I thought you still had more vacation time.” 

“I do,” she replied, “I’m not on, but I needed an excuse to leave. I don’t even want to go back. I’m not sure he’ll actually go.” 

Tormund had wanted to marry her. Not just marry her, but carry her off to the north where she would have his babies and never work again. 

“Doesn’t sound like you,” Jaime rasped, “not at all.” 

She smiled almost shyly and shook her head. “No, it’s not.” 

He told himself that it was concern for his friend that made him invite her to stay with him for a few days while things calmed down. That was it, not the way she smiled at him like he was the only person in the universe who could make her do so, or the way she bit her lip between thoughts, or the fact that he knew both of them were too tall to sleep on the sofa. 

She told herself that it was a desire for peace and normalcy that made her accept his offer to stay, just for a few days until she could call her neighbor and make sure that Tormund had left. That was it, not the way his hair fell over his eyes when he was feeling shy, or the way the faint crows feet at his temples crinkled infinitesimally every time he thought she couldn’t see him looking at her, or the fact that she had dreamt of his lips on hers ever since that hung over morning. No, it certainly wasn’t that.


	2. Chapter 2

Jaime dropped Brienne off in Duskendale with his keys. He had one more round trip to go and then he’d be home. She offered to make dinner, and he said there wasn’t much in the apartment, but she insisted. 

Jaime hoped to catch sight of Tormund leaving Tarth when the bell rang for the last leg of Jaime’s journey, but no such luck. He could be long gone or still there, he cared not, because now Jaime was on his way home to Brienne; nothing else mattered. 

When Jaime finished his last trip, he threw his jacket over his arm and greeted his replacement as usual. He felt run down suddenly, and found himself rubbing his eyes as he climbed the stairs from the platform, and then he rubbed them again because he assumed he was seeing things - or one thing - Brienne. She was at the top of the steps, out of uniform, wearing a lightweight blue jumper over track pants, and leaning against the tile mural depicting the narrow sea with a look on her face as if she had just finished laying it herself. 

Jaime returned her smile and Brienne pushed herself off the wall with a quiet “hey” and fell into step with him. 

“The way you talked about dinner I thought you’d be slaving over a stove right about now. I’m glad you’re not.”

“I’ll have to go shopping tomorrow while you’re at work - for food and stuff. I wanted to tonight, I did, but something came up.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah I just… um, Tormund called.”

“Oh.”

Jaime walked a few steps then stopped turned toward her, steeling himself against what came next. “Okay well if you two need to, uh, work some stuff out, I’ll just go home.” He held out his hand for the keys, but they never fell into his hand. Brienne’s face was unreadable. “I mean unless your stuff is at my place and you need to grab it, that’s cool.”

Brienne looked kind of sad then. Her face was now in part mimicking the look she’d be wearing that morning he’d woken up pinned under her. When she had thought he’d been dreaming of his ex. 

He dropped his hand heavily. “Brienne what did I just do wrong?” He could hear the desperation in his own voice, “Tell me, I’ll fix it just don’t…” he reached out and smoothed the shoulder of her jumper.

He felt her lean into his hand. “Don’t what, Jaime?”

“Don’t run away,” he blurred out. “Not from me. Not again. Please.”

She nodded and toyed with the hem of her jumper. “Tormund called because he left my apartment. He wanted to meet here and give me my keys. So rather than going to the supermarket I ordered a pizza, showered, I changed into this,” she bunched the fabric up in her hand, “moth-eaten thing which was almost the only thing in my bag, by the way. Would you believe I actually forgot to grab pants on my way out? Turns out I was so flustered I packed three tops, a pair of socks, and two pairs of underwear, and no pants!”

Jaime pulled his eyes from his to look down her person. “Are those—“

“—yours, yeah,” she said, blush creeping across her cheeks, “I hope that’s okay?”

“They look better on you than me.”

She all but whispered her thanks, and he thought her eyes were almost glittering. Then he realized she was tearing up. He moved his hand from her shoulder up, cupping her neck and taking a step toward her. “Hey. Brienne, what—“

Suddenly her arms were wrapped around his back, and he was clutching her shoulders, which were shaking as an angry sob seemed to wrench itself from her chest.

He held her as tight as she held him and locked his fingers in the tangled hair at the nape of her neck. 

“What happened, Brienne? Tell me, I’ll knock him out for it.”

Brienne returned a hiccuping laugh and sniffed, pulling her head up to look at him, a look of near wonder in her eyes. “He didn’t do anything, Jaime. At least nothing you didn’t already know. But tonight no he just gave me my keys but…”

She pulled her arms in and snuck them between his and put her hands on his chest so that she was completely encircled by him. “Jaime this afternoon - when he was following me and I was trying to get to the train? All I could think was ‘I hope it’s Jaime’s train! I really _ really _ want to see Jaime _ right now _…’ and then there you were! And you held the doors for me and then you closed them in Tormund’s face!” 

She laughed and Jaime thought it the best sound in the world. He could feel himself smiling wide, but beyond that he thought he could have no control over his expression. She was actually in his arms, and so close he could just… he wanted desperately to kiss her, but he let her lead the way, dictating the limited space between them.

“And when he was here just now… he apologized, and he was fine. He didn’t say anything rude or anything. I really think he was affected by the way I left. But once he headed over to his train, I didn’t want to go back to the apartment without you, so… I waited.”

“And he’s headed back north, then? You have your apartment back, that’s great.”

“Well yeah, eventually. But tomorrow I’ve gotta get groceries and probably pants?”

“Oh… did…” _ don’t fuck this up, Jaime _ “I’d love for you to stay, Brienne.”

She smiled, sniffing, “As long as you don’t mind sharing? I _know_ neither of us will fit on the sofa," she added conspiratorially. 

“You got me there.”

She bit her lip and he found himself tightening his arms around her ever so slightly. “What is it?”

“Jaime.” She looked up from his chest and met his eyes. “Jaime I know that we -- that is, _ I _ want but… and you--”

He searched her eyes. “Brienne… _ we _.”

“We?”

He rested his forehead against hers. “We. And don’t let that scare you. We can take this as slow as you need. I’m your friend first. I will always be your friend. And right now I’ll be whatever you need me to be, but don’t… don’t be afraid to ask for more. I’m not going anywhere.”

***

When they climbed into bed that night, his knees couched against hers, and her hand resting on his shoulder, there were no two happier people in all the world. 

And no one could blame Brienne for resisting a little less when, the next morning, she found herself once again wrapped in Jaime’s arms with his mouth pressed to her neck in sleep. 

And perhaps once he woke they did not take things as slowly as they’d told themselves they would but, in the end, it was what was meant to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was Ch 7 of my Fictober 2019 collection. Someone on Tumblr asked very kindly whether I was going to continue this universe and I decided to indulge them with a second chapter - but that's it! No more after this! Story opens, story shuts. You get a happy ending and YOU get a happy ending!


End file.
